The invention relates to an apparatus and to a method for laser deposition welding of powdery welding material. The invention can be used for the formation of wear protection or of other layers improving the properties of workpieces. A use is, however, also possible in a repair of worn workpieces.
The most varied welding materials can be processed.
The use of laser radiation for deposition welding has long been known and it is also frequently carried out in practice.
In this respect, it is not easily possible to use each of the known apparatus for laser deposition welding for every processing task and it is necessary to use especially designed apparatus. This increases the costs or disadvantages have to be accepted in the processing. The costs are in this respect influenced by the use of suitable laser optical systems which also allow a change in focus and/or collimation of the laser beam used and are called optical zoom systems. These optical systems are also still prone to disturbance.
A high productivity is also required in deposition welding and can be determined by a volume of deposited welding material which is as large as possible and in this respect is of a track width which is as large as possible. In this respect, however, limits are set by the workpiece material and the welding material. The melting temperatures are thus frequently in ranges which make the processing more difficult and it is thereby not possible to deposit a large volume in one workstep or to lay a wide track.
In addition, a good adhesion of the layer on the workpiece material has to be achieved and in so doing unwanted structural changes, a deep weld penetration, a pore formation and a crack formation should be avoided.
It is therefore the object of the invention to propose possibilities for laser deposition welding with increased flexibility and reduced costs, in particular for systems engineering.